Friends Forever
by LuigiWife1551
Summary: Billy Hatcher Fanfiction, set seven months after the actual game. When Dark Raven returns and captures the youngest member of their little flock, Billy and friends must find a way to free him from the clutches of Dark Raven or risk losing him forever. Rated T for Chick's potty mouth and for safety.
1. Hurt

**Hello all! So this is my first Billy Hatcher story! Any reviews you have will be nice! I've never played the game, but I got into the fandom after playing Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing. He's one of my favorite characters to use in the game, and of course, I wanted to know more about the series itself. **

**I personally love Billy and Chick Poacher, who is the main pairing in this story. No Yaoi, of course! Ewwww! :P They are both just so adorable and Chick reminds me of a little Knuckles the Echidna in a cute chicken suit! **

**So please enjoy! Again, I'm new to this fandom, and there's literally not that many out there, so if you know any sites, please PM me! Anyway, here's the first chapter! If I'm inaccurate about anything, please let me know! I own none of the characters in this story, and I'll be basing this plotline about seven months after the actual game. Enjoy!**

**PS: In this story, Billy and Rolly are 11, Bantam is 13, and Chick is 8. And yes, this tiny 8 year old has a potty mouth.**

* * *

**Friends Forever**

**Chapter 1  
****Hurt**

Chick groaned as his violet eyes opened. It was...morning already? What the heck...? Sleep seemed to take away so much, he mused.

Extremely disoriented, Chick yawned and threw his short legs over his oddly oversized bed edge. He jumped down and headed for the bathroom. As he walked down the hall, he got this odd feeling that something didn't seem quite so right today.

He stood on his stool and turned the faucet on. Looking up at his reflection in the mirror, he absentmindly stuck his hand under the warm water and left it there. They were gonna be meeting today...his best friends, Rolly and Billy and Bantam... it should be a great morning... as long as Billy and Bantam don't annoy him...

So why did Chick Poacher feel like something had gone horribly wrong?

Chick shook the feeling off, brushed his teeth and washed his face before going to his room to pull off his pajamas and pull on his jeans and blue hoodie. The weather had gotten pretty cool lately, he mentally noted. Grabbing his teal goggles he left sitting nearby, he ran downstaris, grabbing two slices of toast before running out to meet the others in the woods.

As Chick ran, he couldn't help that dreadful feeeling that was climbing up his small bones. He kept trying to convice himself that it was probably just the cooler tempertures getting to him.

_'It's probably nothing, right? Shit, if those stupid crows think they're coming back, they've got another thing coming! I'll kill them for sure!'_

Finally, Chick could see Bantam holding his famous stopwatch as he checked the time. they were walking a bit up ahead, so Chick yelled, "HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! GUYS, WAIT!"

For a little tyke, Chick could yell like the rest of them. Rolly, Bantam and Billy all stopped once they heard him run up.

"Hey, everyone!"

Billy turned as the adorable redhead ran up, cathcing his breath. Bantam gave him a mighty pat on the back, causing the little guy to fall face-first into the sweet smelling grass.

"Gah! You baka!" Chick complained, jumping up and dusting himself off.

"Hey to you too, little guy!" Bantam greeted happily, waving a meaty hand around.

Rolly laughed, a delicate hand covering her smile. Billy chuckled, shaking his hand and holding up his ball. "Alright! Now that the gang's all here, LET'S GOOOO!" Billy whooped, and bolted on ahead to the open meadow. Rolly followed suit, and Bantam stormed after them. But Chick stayed behind, looking over his shoulder into the woods.

_'Something's really...odd today. I wonder why I feel like something bad's about to happen...it's making my stomach turn...'_

As Chick turned around, he scoffed quietly to himself, and decided that the toast he grabbed out the house before he left was probably not what he wanted to eat that morning.

"Chick! You coming today or next week?" yelled the deep voice of Bantam. Chick rolled his eyes and ran after them.

When Chick finally got to his friends, Billy tossed up his favorite kickball, and the foursome proceeded to play a game kicking the ball around the field just for the heck of it. It was just what Chick needed to take his mind of that funny, sicking feeling he felt.

They played all morning, and most of the afternoon, when Bantam delcared, "Man, I'm getting hungry! What's for lunch?"

Chick poked his large friend from his spot laying on the grass. "Bantam, aren't you ALWAYS hungry?" he questioned, a hint of annoyance and playfullyness in his tone of voice. They other two laughed while Bantam huffed, arms crossing his massive chest. Rolly looked up at the sky, her hand shielding her eyes from the sun. _'They sky looks so blue and calming today'_, she thought happily, before responding to Chick.

"Well, it is getting late. And I'm kinda hungry, too." Rolly admitted. Chick mumbled a 'whatever', standing up. Billy came over and clapped his friend on the back.

"Come on, Chick! You gotta be hungry, too!"

"No I'm-"

As if on cue, little Chick's stomach suddenly grolwed LOUDLY. He flushed bright red in embarrassment while they others laughed.

"T-That...I...ugh, come on if we're gonna eat already! Sheesh!" he stuttered before stomping off in a tiny huff. Billy, having gotten his laugh under control, looked at his friends and said, "Let's go make sure he doesn't try to break down Ban's door."

Rolly wiped the tears that had fallen from her laughing so hard, and agreed, still laughing every once in a while. Bantam began to walk, the entire time, making fun of Chick's loud stomach, which made Billy and Rolly laugh even harder.

* * *

Little Chick stomped through the woods, embarssed at his growling stomach, and mad that his friends laughed at him. He grumbled and muttered rather unplasent words as he kicked up dirt with his shoe.

"Blasted, stupid...ehh, who needs 'em?"

He stopped after a few more ranting moments, and it was then he realized that he had no idea where he was. Somehow, it had gotten oddly dark, although Chick knew that it was still afternoon. And he felt that he was no closer to getting to Bantam's house than before.

"I'd better turn around and head back. Those idiots are probably still there laughing at me..." he told him as he pulled up his sky blue hoodie and ran as fast as he could.

A sudden face palm with dirt and Chick felt the entire...wherever he was at spinning. He groaned, looking at the random branch that was sticking out from benenth the ground. He grolwed, now even more pissed, and pulled his foot free. When he stood, he winced.

"Dammit", the little tyke cursed, "I cut my knee. That's just _freakin' perfect_!"

Chick sighed, sitting down and rolling up his leg to access the wound. Nothing deep, just a scratch, but it was bleeding a bit more than Chick would like. He shrugged. Nothing to do about it now.

Getting up, he heard a familar sound laughing behind him, and looked up at a nearby branch.

Perched on said branch was the last thing Chick needed, or wanted to see. A crow.

Chick stood his ground. The last seven months of peace had relaxed Chick, and this dumb crow wasn't about to start messing with that. Chick realized with a sick intrest that he enjoyed cracking their skulls open, and the fact that the stupid bird caught him in one of his pissed-off moods added on to the desire to kill the thing. He scanned the ground quickly and located the perfect weapon- a nice, medium-sized, smooth rock.

Grinning almost madly, Chick sccoped it up, yelling, "Take this, you piece of shit!" before chucking it with his full strength at the bird. It hit him square on, but for some creepy reason... the bird didn't fall. It just sat there, yellow eyes staring at Chick, blood smoothly leaking from the nasty wound it had in its skull.

"What the hell...?" he questioned, eyes widening a bit.

Suddenly, the injured crow gave a shrill cry, and Chick realized that he was being surrounded. He looked around, horror filling his large violet eyes as the amount of darkness that filled the branches became too much for him to comprehend.

"How the hell did you all... oh no..."

Yellow, glinting eyes stared at their prey, and Chick noticed that one of them had the Cresent Crow symbol. The black-feathered chest of the bird he had just hit glowed a omnious purple-black with the Cresent Crow Symbol.

"Dark...Raven..." he managed to get his dry lips to speak. He took a trembling step back.

"No...t-that's wrong...we killed you!"

The bird seemed to chuckle, and Chick knew then.

He knew once the leader he cursed at and chucked the rock at came at him, his talons glinting and aiming for his neck.

He knew he was in trouble without his suit and his powers.

He knew that was indeed Dark Raven.

He was in deep trouble...

And he was alone.

* * *

Rolly, Billy and Bantam were sitting at Bantam's place, eating some lunch, when Billy looked outside, a cup of iced tea in his hand.

"Hey, I wonder where Chick went. Didn't he know we were coming to Bantam's for lunch today?" he asked his two friends.

The green-eyed orangette looked worridely outside as well. Billy had a point- Chick should've at least been back to the village by now. "Maybe we should go look for him, guys. He's probably mad at us from what happened earlier." she suggested.

Bantam waved that theory off, shoving his face full of fries. "He'll be fine, Rolly. He's probaby just...doing something that Chick...I dunno, does."

The blond whirled around fast, realization hitting him just as Bantam finished his sentence. "Ban, you do realize that if what you're saying is true...then we need to go find him _now, _right?"

The other two, now awareof what Billy had said, looked at each other worriedly, trying to remember all the places the little tyke liked to go to be alone. It was then that Bantam remembered something.

"Come to think of it, he's been acting...off all day. " Bantam muttered in thought. Billy blinked in confusion.

"What are you talking about, Bantam?" Rolly asked. Bantam furrowed his eyebrows in thought as he recalled Chick's unusual behavior when they were heading out to play in the meadows.

"I dunno, it...it was weird. He kept stopping and staring back in the woods, like...like there was someone following him. I was gonna ask him about it, but he seemed fine the rest of the day, so I dropped it."

Rolly looked frightened. "Guys, do you... do you think Morning Land...?"

Billy's hand tighened into a fist. "NO, Rolly. We killed him and his army. We saved Morning Land...he can't be back!"

Rolly wanted to believe that, but the slightest chance that Dark Raven and his evil army could be back scared the living daylights out of her. She still remembered watching Billy fighting that mad bird alone, and that nightmare haunted her ever since.

_"But what was making Chick so jumpy today...?"_ the blond mused to himself.

Billy stood up, resolve burining in his aquamarine eyes. "Guys, I'm gonna go find out little friend before he does something he'll regret later. Stay here in case anything happens."

Rolly and Bantam nodded. Billy grinned, reassuring Rolly that nothing was gonna happen.

"Don't you worry, Rolly, I'm bringing Chick home!"

With that, Billy bolted out of the house. Bantam looked at Rolly, who was close to the verge of tears. Resting a gentle hand on her shoulder, he said softly, "Don't worry, Rolly. Those two are too stubborn. Chick probably hurt himself, that's all. Billy's gonna bring him back, and you repremand him all you like."

Rolly looked at her tough friend, smiling as she wiped her tears away. "I never knew you knew that word, Ban."

Bantam chuckled sheepishly, a meaty hand rubbing the back of his head. Rolly gave him another smile before looking out the window, her hands clasped over her drumming heart. She tried to keep a positive view, for all their sakes. She couldn't help but worry whenever Chick wandered off like this and was gone for so long...

"I hope you're right, Ban. I really do." she whispered. Bantam sighed, following Rolly's gaze. Lunch had become the last thing he wanted to worry about now. He wondered if Chick knew that there was a possiblity that Dark Raven or one of his cronies had somehow returned... but then, how come none of the others noticed anything?

Bantam shook that thought from his mind for now. He just needed to physically see Chick here with them. They could ask questions later.

"I know. I do, too."

* * *

Chick panted heavily as he ran. His lungs burned beyond all description, but he had to keep running.

By now, his clothes were torn to near shreads, and he had quite a few gashes and scratches all over his back and right arm. His body burned, and he was sure he lost his goggles somewhere back there. But he foreced himself ro run. Where, he didn't know.

The crows, who seemed to be laughing at the redhead running, came after him, nicking, scratching, pulling, doing whatever they could to keep him in the darkness.

Sadly, Chick realized too late he had somehow wandered into the wrong side of the village. The sky, the woods, everything was cloaked in darkness. But how come no one noticed it earlier? Why was it only here? Better still, why _is _it here at all?

_'He's back... the bastard...he survived! But how? Billy killed him...I watched him die! I gotta...'_

Chick coughed, making a sharp turn left as he contiued to run. "G...Gotta...get...h-help...Billy...gotta... GAHHHHHHH!' he yelled as another crow grabbed his already wounded arm, raising him in the air.

He looked around, slightly disoritented, the pain making him see black spots for a moment before trying to pull himself free. Large violet eyes looked directly into the evil golden yellow ones right before the crow flung him with surpirsing strength at a nearby tree. Chick let out a short gasp, blood flying into little splatters on the ground.

_'T-They...they're stronger than...b-before...this isn't good, that means...Morning Land...the elder...I have...to...warn the...the others...'_

He struggled to get up. He needed to get out of here, and get to Billy before they found him. He needed help!

"G-gotta...run..." he panted.

But another attack from a crow, and he collasped in an exhusted, wounded heap on the ground. Chick rested his body against the tree, his chest buring in protest, his body terribly sore. How the hell had he been right?

Just then, yet another crow landed in front of him. It wasn't the leader, but it was glowing purple-blackish, too. It cocked its head to the right, and if Chick didn't feel so disoritented or sick from loss of blood and some other wounds, he could've sworn that it was...grinning at him. Two more landed in front of him as well, one flanked on either side of the middle one.

"Go..to hell... stupid birds..." Chick mumbled, eyes sliding closed.

The last thing Chick remembered feeling or hearing before he blacked out was his scream as pain shot throughout his entire body, and another familar voice talking to him.

_**"You'll be perfect..."**_


	2. Darkness

**Hi all! Here's Chapter 2! I hope you all like the story so far! :)**

**Enjoy! I own nothing, SEGA does! I believe... O.O**

* * *

**Friends Forever**

**Chapter 2  
Darkness  
**

Billy ran to the meadows, thinking that Chick had simply gotten himself lost or something, and had come back there. Oddly enough, when he had gotten there, he couldn't see any sign that Chick was ever here or had bothered to return back.

Bilyy paused, trying to think where his friend would be, tapping the ground with his foot and thinking hard. There weren't very many places that he could go to or hide, but Billy knew better. This was Chick he was atalking about, the smallest of their little group. He'd fit just about anywhere...

"Man, I should've been paying more attention to this kid... ugh..." Billy mumbled, sitting down cross-legged on the soft grass. He sat there, eyes focused on nothing, the gentle breeze rustling his blond hair for about ten to fiftenn minutes. And came up with... a huge blank.

He grolwed, clearly annoyed, and tried to emepty his head for any ideas. Normally, this whole mess wouldn't be bothering Billy and the others, but the fact that Chick never really thought about_ what_ he was going to do in his angry moments before he actually went ahead and _did _them... now there was a reason to be concerned.

A rumbling sound snapped Billy out of his thoughts. He looked up, and sighed in exasperation. Just what he needed today... rain.

'_Chick...for crying out loud, man... please tell me you got out of this...'_

After staring at the dark stormclouds rolling in, Billy decided to head toward the lake a few miles down south. He knew from experience that Chick would usually go there, he remembered, and had a tendancy to throw rocks in the water to release his rage. And curse the water out like a sailor.

It semed reasonable that maybe that was where he was now, throwing rocks in the lake and cursing at nothing in particular. He really needed to ask that kid where he learned his colorful language when he found him.

_'Please be there so I can kill you later, Chick...'_

Hoping for the best, Billy took off, hoping his hunch was right.

* * *

Chick found the strength to open his eyes partially, and groaned as he tried to get his head to stop throbbing so much. What happened just now?

_'Oh yeah...Dark...Raven...'_

Chick waited for the sickness to wean off a little. Resting his small hand against his side, he pulled back when he felt something wet and warm. He gasped when he saw that his hand was covered in crimison liquid_._

_'Wait...blood...? What the...?'_

Chick rested a shaking hand against his left side, a bit harder than before, and cried out in immense pain. The crows...they got him good.

"Damn...birds..." he hissed.

Since moving wasn't exactly a great option, he rested against the cool tree trunk, which seemed like heaven to his burning body. How long had he been here, exactly? He couldn't seem to recall. He wondered if any of the others noticed he was missing.

And who was that voice...what did he mean he'd 'be perfect'? It sounded deathly familar...but it couldn't be him...right?

Chick slumped a bit lower as the urge to fall asleep seemed to come over him quickly. No... no, he told himself, shaking his head and trying again to stand, just to fail again.

_'Billy...Rolly, Bantam...'_

Chick closed his eyes again, trying to fight back the urge to puke, to scream, to simply black out, all of which sounded like great ideas to him right then. He took a few deep breaths, each one burning his small chest even worse than then last, and doubled over in pain from the wounds on his body.

At least his brain was still working. And right now, he knew he needed to find a way out of here, get to his friends, and warn them that Morning Land was possibly under more trouble than before.

Chick opened his eyes once again as the nauesous feeling subsided, and he blinked twice to clear his hazy vision. Nothing but sillouttes of trees stood out in front of him. At least one thing was certain- he was still in the dark woods. That was good.

The crows that attacked him earlier didn't seem to be there, either. He blerily looked around for any signs of laughing, yellow-eyed black balls of annoyances, and saw none. This was good.

He wasn't sure how long he had until they would eventually return and follow his blood trail, but the tiny eight-year old knew that bleeding out in the dark woods wasn't an opition.

"I...have to...to warn...them..." he whispered to himself as he struggled to stand up again. This time, he managed to get to his shaky feet, but not before another cough almost took away what breath was left in him. He gasped deeply, one hand on the trunk for support. Once that was over, he swallowed the coppery taste of his blood before taking a step forward.

"Gotta...go.."

And with that, Chick stumbled in the same direction he hoped he had came from, hoping that would lead him out of there...and that he'd find his beloved teal goggles.

* * *

Billy reached the lake, but to his dismay, not a sign of the little redhead. He paused.

"Where else would he be, I wonder...?"

Billy turned around, and that was when he caught sight of a laughing crow flying overhead. It seemed to be dripping something, as Billy found out what it was when something cool and wet landed on his cheek. He wiped it off, and to his horror, saw it was red.

"Blood...? What's going on?" he asked himself quietly, looking back up at the sky and watching the bird fly away, still laughing.

Billy wiped the blood on his jeans and ran back the way he came. He needed to try something else, look for somewhere else where Chick would hide, and fast. Something wasn't right about all of this, and Billy was determined to find out what it was.

* * *

Chick stumbled through the dense woods, stopping often to cough out more blood and to catch what little oxygen he could. It was really getting hard for him to brethe or to see straight, but he forced himself on. He had to get home...

At some point, a little light broke through the treetops, and Chick located his goggles snagged on a low- hanging branch. He smiled tiredly, reaching out to grab it and tuck it in his pocket. He could also see a bit more light up ahead.

He didn't care how long he'd been staggering, falling, and coughing... he was almost there...

Chick pressed on, the darkness slowly ebbing away. _'Maybe it is nighttime... it has to be...right?'_

He sighed softly as he stopped to rest against another tree not too far from what looked like the apparent exit out of there, probably another five or six steps away. Sliding down against the trunk, he looked blankly at the exit, his eyelids feeling exremely heavy. He shook his head to keep them open.

_'I storm off, and then this shit happens...damn...Billy and Rolly are not gonna let me hear the end of this...'_

He chuckled weakly at the thought of the orange-haired sweetheart yelling and tugging at his ears, her favorite tactic when scolding him. Billy and Bantam would probably stand to the side, laughing...

"Almost...there..." he breathed, but for some reason, he just stopped thinking about anything after that, and sat there for almost twenty minutes, blood dripping from his wounds and between his fingers onto the ground below him. His eyes grew slightly fogged over as he stared out into something...space, probably? He wasn't even sure anymore.

After almost twenty minutes, when he felt he gained some strength back, he attempted to get up so he wouldn't bleed to death. Successful, he started walking toward the exit, unaware that two golden yellow eyes were watching his every move.

_**"Soon enough, young hero... you're finished..." **_he muttered in glee, holding a small object in his hands. He gave it a powerful squeeze and waited.

* * *

Billy sighed in annoyance as the fifth hiding sopt he checked turned up nothing. He was getting tired, and he still was no closer to finding Chick. But he wasn't about to give up.

"Where else would this crazy kid hide?" he yelled in frustration as he kiced up dirt, then plopped down cross-legged on the ground, his now favorite thinking pose.

"Maybe he did get home. He's probably there now, laughing that big head of his off..." Billy grumbled, standing up and stomping all the way to the village. "If that kid is there, Rolly better be slapping him upside his head!

No sooner did he say that, it began to rain. Billy sighed and rolled his eyes, pulling his blue hoodie up over his already soaked hair. "I cannot catch a break here, can I?" he grumbled, now even more annoyed, and continued back to the village.

* * *

Chick smiled to himself as he finally got out. He felt the rain, and the he rolled his eyes. That rain felt like knives falling on his skin, and he shivered. He looked around, trying to remember exactly how he had ended up so far from the meadows.

"T-Th-There..." he said to himself, hoping he wouldn't lose the ability to talk. "It-It's gotta...gotta be that..way..."

He stared staggering toward the right, growing weaker and colder with each passing step. It soon got hard fro him to tell which way was left, right,up or down. Just as he was about to blissfully pass out in the rain and hope he wouldn't die before it ended, he felt something tighening in his chest.

It wasn't like before, when he moved. No, this time, it felt worse, like a vice was around his heart and he couldn't get it free. He stumbled forward a few more steps, then collasped, the feeling growing more and more unbearable. At this rate, he was going to die out here, and he knew it.

"W...What...gahhhhh, what is this? Stop it!" he screamed as loud as he could manage.

**_'But the fun is just beginning.'_**

Chick gasped; not due to the strange voice inside his head, but because he knew _who_ the voice belonged to.

"C...Corvo? No...no...Billy killed you... we all saw you- Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" he screamed suddenly, curling into a fetal position, ignoring all other wounds and pains except for that one in his heart.

_"W...What...are you... d-doing...to me..." _he demanded the voice, his strength fading.

**_'You will see very soon, my new pet. But until then... I think I'll enjoy watching the youngest of you meddlesome pests suffer...' _**he murmered smoothly, almost tauntingly.

Chick had no idea what he was talking about. But his chest and head and throat...hell, everywhere just hurt. And he was still out in the rain.

_"S-Stop... stop it... get outta my head! Get the hell out!'_

Chick got no response, but curled tighter, hands grabbing his head in pain, as another, even louder scream tore from his throat.


End file.
